Paul Stevens
Paul Stevens is Elizabeth's father. He had a strong distaste for Ross and disapproved of his relationship with Elizabeth. Paul was played by Bruce Willis in a three-episode story arc. The One Where Ross Meets Elizabeth's Dad, The One Where Paul's The Man and The One With The Ring. History Paul is an eccentric character who makes fun of Ross whenever he can. He intimidates him very much and takes advantage of it. He and his wife had Elizabeth when they were very young and his wife died when Elizabeth was just a baby. As a result of this, he raised her on his own. He had a sister who also died. Paul ends up in a relationship with Rachel, proving him to be somewhat of a hypocrite since he is considerably older than she is. This upsets Ross greatly, but Rachel convinces him that she can change Paul's opinion of him. Eventually Paul decides to accept Ross and Elizabeth's relationship, but quickly changes his mind and tells Ross that if he doesn't end it, he will call the university and have him fired. Ross and Elizabeth decide to continue their relationship in secrecy. One weekend they go away to Elizabeth's grandmother's cabin. However, Paul has decided to surprise Rachel and take her there on the same weekend. After trying to escape (with the help of Elizabeth and Rachel) Ross is caught by Paul. But not before Ross (who had been hiding under the bed in Paul's bedroom) saw Paul talking and singing exaggeratedly to himself in the mirror. After Ross (nearly) subtly reveals this, Paul finally accepts him. Both of them, however, still do not like each other. Later, Rachel starts to worry about her relationship with Paul because of how private he is. She tells him that she wants to know more about him and he tells her about the time that he was six and his parents bought him a "plastic chicken you hop around on" instead of Big Wheels like he wanted. He reveals that kids made fun of him, making him a very insecure person. He begins crying for hours, revealing more about his childhood to Rachel. Even the mention of chicken causes Paul to burst into tears. It is also revealed that Paul had issues with his father who never hugged him. He insists on hugging Chandler when he walks into the room, and then Joey immediately afterwards. Rachel finally gets Paul to calm down long enough to have sex. But afterwards he can't keep himself together and begins bawling again. So, Rachel dumps him. Paul is never seen or mentioned in the series again. Trivia *Paul is Irish. *When Paul is apologizing to Rachel for crying so much, he says "when those gates open, it's hard to close them", a term Chandler used to describe himself after he starts crying in The One Where Chandler Can't Cry. *Bruce Willis allegedly agreed to appear in Friends as the result of a bet made with Matthew Perry when the two of them met while filming The Whole Nine Yards. *Bruce Willis is the main star of the Die Hard series which is coincidentally the three guys favourite film. Category:Friends Characters Category:Season 6 Characters Category:Recurring Characters Category:Fathers